Stage monitor question

[gregory]

Hello, as my band and I are rarely happy with the stage monitor situation in most of the places we play, we are considering getting our own monitors etc, setting it up the way we want and let the venue deal with the foh. A big pia but it would be nice to hear some vocals occassionally. There are 3 of us. My question is, if we all get the floor monitor of our choice - what would be the most sensible way to provide 3 separate monitor mixes? Price, size and weight are all considerations. Thanks in advance

[PoorGlory]

No venue will be happy if they have to move their monitors off stage between bands to accommodate you. Not to mention if they're mixing monitors from FOH, they don't have a splitter snake installed. So you need to bring your own and repatch all the FOH channels into your splitter. I'm sure the FOH guy will love you. You'll probably find a bunch that will flat out refuse, and don't even try to start moving and repatching his stuff yourself.

To make it work, you need a mic splitter of however many channels, a console with enough channels for whatever you need in the monitors, a channel of graphic EQ for each monitor, and 3 channels of amplification. Then create each mix with the aux sends of your console.

The better solution for your needs would be in-ear monitors. You're eliminating having to move house gear around, bringing a ton of extra gear with you (EQs, amps, wedges... still need the console), and the possibility of pissing off the guy mixing you. Plus, you eliminate a ton of stage volume which in turn will help the main mix retain clarity. That can frequently be a big problem: loud monitors fighting with the FOH mix in a small club. With a three piece band playing small venues (I assume), the best thing would be to try to be completely self contained. In other words, come prepared with your own rig ready-to-go, so that all the FOH guy just has to patch a bundle of XLRs from your rack into his snake. If you show up and say "We have all our own mics in place and we're patched and ready to go... just patch us into your snake box, mute the wedges, and we're good", most FOH guys will be happy as shit.

[surflounge]

this will work
Aviom Home

[gregory]

Originally Posted by PoorGlory

To make it work, you need a mic splitter of however many channels, a console with enough channels for whatever you need in the monitors, a channel of graphic EQ for each monitor, and 3 channels of amplification. Then create each mix with the aux sends of your console.

PoorGlory, thanks for the detailed responce. I'm rereading it until I understand it as I'm pretty thick when it comes to this stuff. We need six channels max in the monitors. I'll check into appropriate splitters. Venues include 60-100 people corner dumps to large outdoor festivals and everything in between. I know what you mean about the interaction with the foh guys and I just figured if there is house wedges in place, we'd just use them in our system, or if it's one night rental as it often is around here they won't mind leaving there wedges in the truck. I wonder if we can make make do without the graphics? I have a 1202vlz sitting around if that would work - could you please expand on what youmean by " create each mix with the aux sends of your console". thanks
p.s. we have considered in ear in the past, I'll reconsider it.

[PoorGlory]

Originally Posted by gregory

PoorGlory, thanks for the detailed responce. I'm rereading it until I understand it as I'm pretty thick when it comes to this stuff. We need six channels max in the monitors. I'll check into appropriate splitters. Venues include 60-100 people corner dumps to large outdoor festivals and everything in between. I know what you mean about the interaction with the foh guys and I just figured if there is house wedges in place, we'd just use them in our system, or if it's one night rental as it often is around here they won't mind leaving there wedges in the truck. I wonder if we can make make do without the graphics? I have a 1202vlz sitting around if that would work - could you please expand on what youmean by " create each mix with the aux sends of your console". thanks
p.s. we have considered in ear in the past, I'll reconsider it.

Check out the Aviom thing above if you want to spend money.

If you want three separate mixes, you need to use the aux sends on the mixer. Otherwise, you could just create a single mix through the master output and send it to each monitor. (Unless you are using a monitor console, in which case the idea is similar anyway).

You need a graphic equalizer for each monitor mix to a) flatten the frequency response of the wedge on that stage in that room and b) to fight feedback (which is generally a result of not tuning the monitors properly, which brings us back to point "a").

So if this stuff is all new to you and you've never mixed monitors before, what makes you think you can get better results than the guy who works that stage every night? Sure, FOH guys at dive bars usually suck/are drunk/don't care, but if you don't know what you're doing, that feedback won't JUST stay in the monitors. It will come right through the PA and take everyones heads off.

I strongly recommend in-ear monitors in this case, since that takes tuning the monitors and dealing with feedback out of the equation, and is more forgiving with less-than-perfect gain structure.

This is why dedicated monitor engineers exist.